Indie Scene: ‘Werewolf in a Women’s Prison’ Fantastically Cheesy
Indie exploitation combines two lost genres into one so-bad-it’s-good film
directed by Jeff Leroy
written by Vinnie Bilancio and Jeff Leroy
Werewolf in a Women’s Prison: As soon as you hear that title, you can pretty much tell if it’s your kind of movie. Like the painfully obvious Snakes on a Plane, you know exactly what’s in store. Writer/director/editor Jeff Leroy and writer/actor/producer Vinnie Bilancio have given us a great mash-up of two sadly dying genres, werewolf movies and women in prison movies, and hit every obligatory mark of both types. The result is an awesomely bad exploitation flick. Please continue reading to find out what you’re missing, but I’m sure your mind is already made up.
Sarah Ragdale (Victoria De Mare) and her boyfriend, Jack (Bilancio), are enjoying a camping excursion in Campuna, a fictional third world country, when things begin to go bump in the night. The couple is attacked by a blood thirsty, red-eyed, bipedal werewolf. Sarah escapes with a bite, but Jack is mangled to death. Sarah is sent to an all-female prison for the criminally insane due to her bizarre, unbelievable story. Apparently, mental institutions in Campuna are like horrible, corrupted jails. Innocent civilians sent to the jail and forced to live in the dank, rat-infested cells without a trial.
These unlucky females are subjected to sexual assault from the warden (Domiziano Arcangeli), who takes photos of the inmates for his website, Prison Girls Gone Wild, and the head guard (Jackeline Olivier), who happens to be a dominatrix lesbian. Sarah notices that she has gained superhuman strength after being involved in a cat fight with another inmate. In an obvious homage to An American Werewolf in London, Jack comes back to inform her of the transformation she is experiencing. She soon becomes a ravenous lycanthrope herself, praying on anyone else confined in the dungeon.
What makes Werewolf in a Women’s Prison so great is the fact that it’s fully aware of its b-movie status. While this clearly wouldn’t be a make for a good film with a big budget, WIAWP is a fantastically cheesy indie flick. To give you an idea about what’s in store, as if the blunt title isn’t enough, this is a dead ringer for a Troma release. The acting is barely adequate; the effects are cheap; the script is unsophisticated; and each imperfection contributes to making this such a fun movie.
Despite the low budget, there’s a good amount of gore flying around. There’s a great scene were the werewolf pulls a girl through the bars of her cell, bisecting her body. No, it doesn’t look very real, but it’s over the top goodness. The scenes without blood usually boarder on softcore pornography. Look no further than the greatest survival technique in the history of cinema: Two topless chicks lick the sweat off of each other for water. This would obviously never actually work, but I didn’t mind watching it. There’s plenty of other erotic scenes depicting gratuitous nudity amidst the gruesome ones.
If you’re looking for a campy, tasteless, entertaining film, Werewolf in a Women’s Prison is perfect for you. The film perfectly embodies the blood, boobs, and beast technique. Sure, parts drag and others don’t make sense, but that just adds to the so-bad-it’s-good feel. Phoenix Entertainment Group will be releasing the film on DVD on September 4th of this year, and I can see many horror fans enjoying this. It could even gain cult status in an Ed Wood kind of way. Whatever the case, it’s worth seeing for the amusement value.
Horror-101 gives Werewolf in a Women’s Prison a 72 out of 101
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Is it just me.. or is the girl on the last picture above topless and covered in vegetables, sausages and plenty of fake blood? I swear I can spot a titty in there. LOL! This one looks like a worthwhile ultra-B-movie rental.
Why yes, that’s exactly what it looks like — and probably is. I knew that nip wouldn’t get past you. Definitely check this one out.
I need to see this. I have not seen a single WIP film yet, but it is good someone is trying to bring back a dead genre.
This sounds like a very fun movie, I’ll have to get the dvd when it comes out.
[...] is perfectly embodied by the title. You can read our review of this fantastically cheesy flick here.   There’s a bunch of other interesting titles, such as Amateur Porn Star Killer, The [...]
[...] and edited by the versatile Jeff Leroy, Werewolf in a Women’s Prison was described by the website Horror-101 in the exact way that I hoped it’d be; an awesomely bad exploitation [...]
[...] plot is perfectly embodied by the title. You can read our review of this fantastically cheesy flick here. There’s a bunch of other interesting titles, such as Amateur Porn Star Killer, The [...]